Table of Contents

Introduction
Learners
Objectives
Key Players

Components of the Wiki Presentation

Bulleted Talking Points
Wikis:What They Are
Why Use Wikis
Links and Resources
Activities
Assessments
Giving the Presentation


Introduction


This wiki is a self-contained professional development presentation that will help you describe and explore the role of wikis in K-8 education. It was originally developed by Mark Wagner, Ph.D., President & CEO of EdTechTeam, Inc., for the K12Online Conference 2006. It is intended to be given as a webinar, directly from the wiki itself. It has been adapted and Revised by Caleb Abraham for use at St. Peter Lutheran School in Hemlock, Michigan.

*Before teaching this workshop, read through the learner analysis, objectives, the key players, and all other materials on the Instructor Resources page, as well as those on the Learner Resources page.


Learners

Click here to learn about the learners that you will be teaching.

Objectives

Click here to learn about the objectives that will be taught throughout this workshop

Key Players

Click here to learn about your role and the role of the other members in this design

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Components of the Wiki Presentation




Bulleted talking points

Use these as your speaking notes as you give this presentation. To get an idea of what this can look like, explore the original Wiki While You Work wiki. Mark and Chris Bell have hosted this presentation and modified versions of this presentation from that wiki for multiple events, and you can find histories and recordings of the live webinars.
The Read-Only Web
  • Powerful resource for educators and students, but…
  • Information moves from publishers to consumers
  • Information cannot be edited
  • The One-Way Web (Web 1.0)

The Read/Write Web
  • It is now as easy to create as it is to consume
  • Anyone can publish, share, and change information
  • Two-Way Web (Web 2.0)
  • This is changing our world!
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Wikis- What they are


Wikis
  • A wiki is a website that anyone can edit.
  • If you can use a word processor, you can use a wiki!
  • Visitors can see a history of changes and revert to earlier versions.
  • Visitors can discuss the page in a threaded forum.

Wikipedia
  • Online encyclopedia
  • Collaboratively authored and edited
  • Over 1 million users worldwide
  • Over 1 million articles in English
  • Great resource, but…
  • Use with caution

Educational Wikis
  • Collaboratively authored class texts
  • Writing projects
  • Group projects
  • Sharing resources
  • Grade level teams
  • Subject area teams
  • Professional development
  • Professional Learning Communities (PLC)
  • ePortfolios
  • Clubs, PTAs, and events
  • Mapping of concepts, brainstorming
  • Presentation tools
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Why Use Wikis?



Benefits
  • Engagement and motivation
  • Context-embedded learning
  • Inquiry-driven learning
  • Collaborative learning
  • Reflection and metacognition
  • 21st-century skills

Concerns
  • Information literacy
  • Inappropriate content
  • Inappropriate sharing
  • Threats and cyber-bullying
  • Intellectual property
  • Fraud and identity theft
  • Stalkers and predators
  • Lack of understanding


Links and references

The people attending your presentation will be able to follow these links to do research and complete the activities you will be assigning through the course of the presentation. Go through these links before you deliver the presentation to make sure you feel comfortable with the wikis and other resources being presented, and to add your own favorite references and links. You can update the examples by following the Examples link in the left navigation bar.

Activities

These activities were designed to give the people attending your presentation a sense of what can be accomplished with wikis, let them see how wikis might help them achieve their own goals, give them a hands-on introduction to the basic functions of a wiki, and create an implementation plan for their own classroom. Each activity is on its own page (accessed in the left toolbar), and includes instructions for how the activity should be completed.

Assessments

After each of the first three activities, there are assessments for learners to complete. The first two assessments are done by answering questions on Survey Monkey. The results of the surveys may be seen by logging into Survey Monkey using admin rights (please message Instructional Designer to get credentials). After reading the results, intervene or answer questions if necessary. The third one is a self-assessment to see if learners have the basic skills necessary to create a wiki, edit it, and set it up for classroom use.

Make sure that learners complete the Course Evaluation surveys after completion of the workshop.

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Giving the Presentation


The session begins with a discussion of the “old” read-only Web v. the read/write Web, and the implications that has for the role of the Internet in education.

Once your attendees are comfortable with the concept of the read/write Web, you will introduce them to the idea of wikis, using the most famous wiki, Wikipedia, as a familiar example. You will discuss the potential applications of wikis in education, and take a look at some active education wikis. Use the bulleted talking points above to help.
This leads into Activity 1, in which your attendees will do some online research to evaluate existing education wikis and share the results of their research by participating in a wiki discussion. (Please note that the Examples section here is editable independently from the rest of the Presentation page. You can also edit the examples by clicking the Examples link in the left navigation bar.)

Now that you’ve given everyone a firm grounding in the idea of wikis, you will give them a chance to get hands-on. In Activity 2, your attendees will take turns editing a page on the presentation wiki. In Activity 3, you will show them how they can start free Wikispaces wikis for their classrooms and walk them through some of the basic highlights and features of those wikis. You will give an introduction to creating multimedia wikis using the Embed Widget tool. Then, time permitting, you can show your attendees some of the more advanced editing tips, tricks, and wiki features available on Wikispaces.

In Activity 4, your attendees will develop an implementation plan for their classroom. Encourage them to start small, maybe with one class or one project. This will allow them to share ideas of uses. This should also include a discussion on some of the problems that may arise and how to avoid them.

Encourage them to log back in later and complete Activity 5, to share the work they’ve done in their own wikis.
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